Not as crazy as last week...

This week wasn´t a super crazy week like the week we had before... But the funnest part is that we just got back from a place that´s called Sixth Avenue and it´s basically just a huge street with ALLLL types of stores. We even went to the central market and I was scoping out the souvenirs but made no purchases.

Updates…There is a good possibility we will have a baptism this Saturday…a little guy that´s 11.  He´s super awesome!  Service projects.... nothing too crazy like last week haha!

Favorite teaching moment this week... We went to a recent convert’s house for a lesson and her little sister was visiting. We start asking her about the gospel and everything and she has grown up in the Evangelist church and knows a lot about the Bible. As we started talking about the Restoration the message just kind of clicked for her and she has been interested ever since. I don´t know how much more time we´ll have with her because she´s only visiting but hopefully we planted the seed and others will be able to come and water it.

The weather is getting colder and colder.  Not anything cold compared to Utah this time of year but definitely super cold for here in Guatemala. I´ve started to sleep with double layers again and a thick blanket that was here in this house. We still get up and run in the morning though so the cold doesn´t stop us ;)

We are definitely doing tons and tons of walking. We never stop!  Sometimes people ask us if we´re just walking to walk hahaha!

In our zone… (Dang it! I have a picture of our zone but I forgot my camera today.) There are only 4 gringos in our zone..4 out of 13!  One is from Utah (plus me), another from Oregon and another from Arizona.

The most tradition food here in Guatemala is rice with beans and tortillas. It´s actually super good and I´ve grown to love it haha!

My new responsibilities are getting easier and easier. I´ve learned that to be a good leader, first I need to be a good friend and I feel like our zone is growing more and more united and we´re seeing lots of success thanks to that.  I´m loving it...I pray for help every single day but I feel like I´m definitely receiving the help that I need because we´re having a great time. I´m learning so many lessons that I don´t even know if there´s enough room in my head for all these experiences.

Honestly, I know this work is the Lord´s work and this gospel is so true. I have seen it change so many lives and it continues to change my life each and every single day. We just have to apply its principles little by little each day and we will see all the blessings that the Lord has prepared for us. Read the Book of Mormon a little each day!! It brings more comfort and peace than you can imagine!!!

Alright, well, I love you all more than you can ever imagine but I gotta head... I hope you all have a great week and I´ll be looking forward to next Monday!!!

Love,

Elder Lott

Here is his response to my “Do missionaries get flu shots?” inquiry:

Well I´m not really sure... Last Christmas we got a vaccination. Elder Yama gave me the shot actually. He was studying medicine before the mission though and he actually did a great job hahaha! I´m not sure if it was for the flu though!! Maybe this coming month we´ll get flu shots?? I doubt it.

An Awesome Week of Service and Baptisms!

Oh my goodness this week has been FULL of service projects.  First we helped a member who is going to put a water tank up there so we had to dig some deep holes so he can put cement pillars.... Rough :)

 

Next, we participated in a helping hands project and it was super fun. The whole stake got together to help paint the curbs all over the neighborhood!  We painted all the curbs white!! You can't really tell though.

 

 

 

 

So remember when I told you guys about the Gomez family? Well only one of the three got baptized (Noemi) and her husband wasn't going to be able to make it to her baptism because of work but we weren't going to let that happen so we went over and hauled ALL the dirt that he had to haul.  Like 2 hours before the baptism we were just hauling dirt over our backs.  We got it done just in time but here was no time to change before the baptism.  We were BEAT but it’s a super fun memory that I will NEVER forget :)

 

The rest of the Gomez family are receiving visits from a couple of our elders here in our zone and hopefully will be baptized soon too.

Oh and add clean the church in there too.  On Monday we started filling up the font and while it was filling up we cleaned the rest of the church but then tons of time passed by and when we went to check on it, it was flooding…oops! We had a small flood on our hands but we got it taken care of ;)

I told you about Max last week.  He was baptized on Monday.  Max is 18 and he has become like a best friend to us.  It's awesome!!

Edgar and his little one, Willy, were baptized this week and it was a super special day!  Edgar’s older son, Douglas, was already a member and he was able to baptize his father and brother.  We just have a little more work to do with the Mom :)

 

 

We haven’t found anyone who wants to cook for us so we have to look for a place to eat every single day. We have been looking but most people in this area are busy.  Sometimes we just eat cereal. I miss David and Janet so much!  We do have someone that washes our clothes though :)

Elder Martinez and I are exercising every day and I feel great!  On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we go for a nice run and the other days we do weights and push-ups and we have a pull up bar and its crazy.

All is well in Guatemala!

Thank you for your love, support and prayers!

With love,

Elder Lott

Mom, I just sent the shoe pictures so you would see how great they have been.  I wore the first pair my first year and now I`m onto my second pair.  It`s super awesome.  I was pumped when I had worn my other shoes right out. They could have lasted longer but I decided to leave them behind because they were weighing me down, you know? ;)  These shoes are troopers that’s for sure… these will probably last Riley's mission too :)

Apparently he missed the instruction to rotate them every day.  Oh well, this works too!

A Week of Miracles

I’m now writing from a little internet cafe in the middle of nowhere.  Last week was a wave of emotions for sure. I was excited and nervous at the same time and that was weird. My new companion is Elder Martinez from Mexico!  He has the same amount of time that I have in the mission. We are scheduled to go home the same day.  He is great!   He´s super laid back but likes to work hard which is like me! He doesn´t get stressed out or mad and we have a lot of fun together! We are actually going to have a baptism today at 6 and another one this coming Wednesday!  The day I got here we immediately started seeing miracles and it was awesome. He told me what a blessing it was that I came and we´re both super excited to be working together!

Our investigator that´s going to be baptized today has been with the missionaries for like a whole year now and hasn´t ever made the decision to be baptized but we had two super good lessons with him and during the second lesson he accepted our invitation and is actually super excited. Same with our baptism this coming Saturday. His name is Edgar and he kind of had the same problem but then we started talking about the example that he would set for his family and he accepted our invitation too and it was just incredible because with only a week here in this area and boom 2 baptisms. The Lord is truly preparing his children. We just have to do our part and he will do the rest. 

Elder Flores didn´t stay in Las Ilusiones because President Crapo doesn´t have any spare missionaries right now.  Elder Flores will serve here in our zone just for a little while until we get new missionaries.

The Gomez family will be baptized this coming up Saturday! I will be going back to talk to the bishop and get everything set up and I´m going to swing by and visit them too to see how they´re doing!!

Our area is gigantic and it is actually like 10 minutes from Las Ilusiones on foot!  Oh my goodness it is more mountainous then Las Ilusiones. I am absolutely exhausted at the end of every single day. I´m going to have to take tons of pictures of the area because it´s gigantic but super awesome!

We´re in a family ward that has like 150 people that normally attend so it´s one of the bigger wards that I´ve ever been in. OHHHH but there is a senior couple in our ward and they are the greatest!!! The Sister, Sister Reyna is her name is going to cook me HOMEADE BROWNIES this coming Sunday and I am beyond excited!!! How I miss homemade treats from my Mom!!! This is actually probably one of the richer areas I´ve been in. There are tons of members with cars here that give us rides!!

Unfortunately, we don´t have anybody to cook for us in this area and I can´t even describe how much I miss having Janet cook for us every day. We have to go looking for food when we want to eat lunch. Elder Martinez says he knows how to cook a few things but never cooks haha so I don´t really know. We do have several families though that invite us over to eat every once in a while :)

Living conditions...well...the house was kind of a mess when I got here but every day we take like 30 minutes to clean the house and it´s looking lots and lots better. I´ll try to take some pictures for you guys. Our house is a ton bigger though so that´s fun. Hot water...well…kind of.... We have to fill this big tub with water and then there´s this little tool that gets super hot when we plug it in and that´s what heats up the water. Not the same but it´ll do.

Nah, writing in English isn´t too hard for me. It´s kind of hard to speak it though and I don´t really understand why.  I haven´t been with an English speaking comp in my whole mission. Can you believe that? It´s alright though because I feel like I have basically mastered Spanish and when I got to this new area I tried to tease everyone and say that I only had like 4 months in the mission and that I was just starting and everything but they all would tell me that can´t be true because you speak Spanish perfectly.  I definitely have that accent though. I´m secretly hoping that my last companion speaks English so I can practice lots right before I get home.

I have never been so busy in my whole life. We are running here and there in our own area and then sometimes we go and help the other elders in their areas and sometimes we have to go run errands for others and we´re always talking on the phone with the assistants and just everything it is super super busy but the time FLIES by. 

All is well.  I love and miss you all tons!

Have a great week :)

Love,

Elder Lott

Zona Esparana...continuing forward with faith!

This week was an amazing week actually. We completed all of our goals and we found a family of gold!! We have been chatting and talking with them and they just absolutely love us!! They always invite us to dinner and talk about how much we`ve blessed their lives and they accepted our invitation to baptism. The Gomez Family... Oscar, Noemi, and Jasmine. There are 3 more littler ones but they`re not quite ready yet ;) It has been super fun to share the gospel with them and to see how big of a blessing it has been to them. 

Oscar is doing good.... We actually played soccer with him today and I think he sprained his ankle but he`s doing good and he`s still coming to church and the activities and everything the only bummer is that he wants to wait on his baptism. It`s alright though. We just continue to teach and support him and sooner or later he will come around :) Jessica unfortunately moved... far away.... So hopefully the missionaries over there will be able to find her and help her!

In my studies of the Book of Mormon, I`m in Alma 42. I have been reading a lot about the Plan of Salvation and we actually learned about that in our district meeting last Wednesday.  It always amazes me just what a perfect plan our Heavenly Father has for us. We are truly here to learn and grow and make mistakes but we have to learn from our mistakes and that is where the Atonement comes in. It`s really interesting and it is such a blessing. 

What have I done to serve Elder Flores this week?  I helped him put away his clean clothes, and I made his bed. I think those were the only real acts of service that I provided this week but I am always on the lookout for more ways that I can help so I`ll let you know how it goes this next week. 

Anyways I don`t have much time left but I have some super big news... 

We talked to President Crapo today and we have emergency transfers. Apparently there was a small problem in another area and he needs my help. So I`m going to be transferred to Zona Esparana and President has high expectations for me. We talked about what he expects of me and what the Lord expects of me and I`m super nervous but super excited about it. I still can’t believe it. Now, I`m not ready to leave yet.  The taxi will be coming tomorrow in the morning and I have to pack my bags and say good bye to all the members and investigators here in my area. I will have tons of details to give you next week but as for now... That`s all the update I can give you... I will continue forward with faith.

Love, 

Elder Lott

All is well!

I definitely had a good birthday and I was super grateful for all the families that helped me feel loved on my birthday.  It`s true, David and Janet really spoiled me tons. The cake was delicious and yes, I think it was chicken cordon bleu for dinner.  I`m not exactly positive what it was but it tasted similar to chicken cordon bleu so I`m just going to say it was ;) New sweater, new jacket, new socks and some chocolate... My favorites ;) They really went out of their way and I got to celebrate with David because his birthday was the 4th. It was a super fun day!

 

 I love that these packages look like missionary shirts :)

 

 

I will be eternally grateful for these good people of Guatemala!

The other family is the family that we live with, The Gusman Family. The funny guy taking the video is their son. His name is Carlos and he served a mission too and he is SO funny he always has me dying. He loves to learn English because he learned a ton on his mission but doesn`t remember it all now but he actually speaks super well and he loves to bug me about it ;) They always take super good care of us and I`m super grateful for that family as well.

Note:  This video can only be viewed from a computer screen not a hand held device.

Well we actually were not able to have our baptism on my birthday and it was a huge bummer... The thing is, he has decided to wait and think about his baptism and we have decided that someone must have said something to him because he changed his mind so quickly but we`re going to keep working with him and see what we can do. 

We had a district meeting last week where we talked about how President Crapo truly receives revelation and inspiration for these transfers and the Spirit confirmed to me that it`s true and that the Lord has a plan for me here and that I need to help my companion and the members here and that I`m really here for a purpose and I’m at peace with it. I know my companion needs a little bit of extra help or extra attention and the members are really helpful as well.  I think they understand the situation so I`m grateful really for everything that is happening in the mission. 

We played soccer for a good hour and a half this morning and it was super fun. Got some good exercise ;)  I am honestly doing super good and am excited and ready for whatever we have ahead of us. I`m doing good physically, mentally and spiritually and all is well.

Love you all!
Elder Lott